Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to improve cross-Government coordination on preparedness for a future pandemic.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government is committed to improving pandemic preparedness. As the response to Module One of the Covid-19 inquiry made clear, the Cabinet Office is playing a greater role in preparedness for cross-cutting catastrophic risks.
Our preparedness for future pandemics has been stepped up through Exercise Pegasus, the largest ever national pandemic response exercise. The exercise will test national to local coordination arrangements, and lessons from the exercise will help strengthen pandemic preparedness at national and local levels.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent progress his Department has made on protecting people from cyber threats.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
I refer to my answer for UIN 80985, tabled on 10 October 2025.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the progress made by her Department on improving biodiversity.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are committed to improving biodiversity by delivering on our four legally binding targets for species abundance, species extinction and habitat creation and restoration. These targets are driving significant action for nature recovery, alongside statutory targets on tree canopy and woodland cover, water and air quality, marine protected areas, and resource efficiency.
We are investing in protected sites and landscape-scale action through delivery of a Nature Recovery Network and our 30by30 commitment and taking action to increase the adoption of nature-friendly farming.
Through our Landscape Recovery scheme, we have supported 56 projects to work alongside farmers, landowners and environmental organisations to develop strategies for long-term nature recovery. These projects will restore over 600 km of rivers, restore more than 35,000 hectares of peatland, sustainably manage more than 20,000 hectares of woodland, and benefit more than 160 protected sites.
We have also commissioned an evaluation framework which will strengthen our understanding of progress towards meeting our biodiversity targets.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to improve administrative processes for (a) plant and (b) food imports to the UK.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As announced at the UK-EU Leaders Summit on 19 May, the UK and EU have agreed to work towards a common Sanitary and Phytosanitary Area which will slash costs and remove red tape. Removing the need for Export Health Certification will save trading businesses up to £200 per consignment every time goods are sent, meaning a single lorry carrying a mixed load of animal products could see reduced costs by thousands of pounds.
We are expecting to start negotiations once the EU has confirmed their mandate.
In the meantime, plant health import requirements and the requirements for products of animal origin are kept under continuous review.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress she is making on supporting people that want to use electric vehicles.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is investing over £4.5 billion to help industry and consumers transition to zero emission vehicles. The £650 million Electric Car Grant has supported around 30,000 drivers to choose an electric vehicle since its launch in July.
As of 1 October 2025, the Government and industry have supported the installation of 86,021 publicly available charging devices (including 17,354 rapid charging devices), an increase of 23% year on year. In September 2025, battery electric vehicles represented over a fifth (23.0%) of new UK car registrations, and the UK now has the largest market share for electric cars of any major European economy.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pension, what recent assessment he has made of progress in increasing levels of apprenticeship (a) starts, (b) participation and (c) achievement.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The latest data on apprenticeship starts, participation and achievements are published in the Apprenticeships statistics publication and can be found here:
This has been available since 17 July 2025. Finalised figures for the 2024/25 academic year will be published in the Apprenticeships: November 2025 statistics publication.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of using geothermal heat from former, flooded coal mines to help reach his Department's clean energy targets.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
To achieve net zero at lowest cost, we must look at how to accelerate all low carbon technologies including geothermal. The Government recognises that the mine water from coal mines shows good potential as a renewable source for heat networks. The government is therefore supporting such mine water schemes as Gateshead and Seaham Garden Village through the Heat Network Investment Project and the Green Heat Network Fund. The Mining Remediation Authority has also released opportunity maps for 10 Cities in England Mine Water Heat Opportunity Mapping for 10 Cities in England - data.gov.uk
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is takin to support young people into employment, education and training in North East Somerset & Hanham constituency.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper, we are developing a Youth Guarantee to ensure young people are either learning or earning. This includes access to high-quality training, apprenticeships, and personalised support to find work.
As a first step, eight Mayoral Strategic Authorities in England began mobilising the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers in April. These Trailblazers are testing new local approaches to identify and support young people at risk of falling out of education, employment or training and becoming NEET.
North East Somerset and Hanham constituency are part of the West of England Trailblazer, supporting young people into employment, education and training opportunities together with transport issues around reaching available job vacancies and opportunities.
In addition to this young people claiming Universal Credit can access support through our Youth Offer. This includes a range of support designed to help young people move closer to employment, such as dedicated support from Youth Employability Coaches, access to Youth Hubs, and intensive guidance from Jobcentre Work Coaches during the first 13 weeks of a Universal Credit claim.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to improve levels of community (a) involvement and (b) engagement in planning processes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Questions UIN 58236 on 17 June 2025 and UIN 72839 on 15 September 2025.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he will take steps to make Integrated Care Boards coterminous with strategic authorities.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The English devolution white paper made clear the Government’s long-term ambition to align public service boundaries, including health and strategic authority boundaries. We reaffirmed this commitment in the 10-Year Health Plan, published on 3 July 2025. Our aim is that integrated care boards should be coterminous with strategic authorities wherever feasibly possible.
I also refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS915 I made to the House on 9 September 2025, which provided an update on further progress.